The latest on California politics and government

January 11, 2012

Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in town tonight as part of the Sacramento Speakers Series.

Rice, of course, is now a Stanford University professor and a member of Think Long Committee for California, which -- among other things -- has proposed a ballot initiative to raise tax revenue.

To get a taste of what Rice might explore at her talk, click here to read her recent conversation with The Bee's David Siders. She told him, for instance, that the California Republican Party needs "better policies on immigration" in order to regain some of its voter registration losses in the state.

Her talk starts at 8 p.m. at the Community Center Theater, 1301 L St. Attendance will set you back. It requires buying prorated subscriptions for the remaining speakers in the series, priced at $155, $200, $260 and $280. Click here for more information.

Back at the Capitol, committees in both the Senate and the Assembly are considering bills that face a deadline Friday for moving fiscal measures to fiscal committees.

The Senate Governance and Finance Committee, for instance, is looking at Sen. Alex Padilla's Senate Bill 331, which would bar new tobacco retailers from locating within 600 feet of a public or private elementary or secondary school.

Click here to find the Senate committees' schedules, and click here for the agendas on the Assembly side.

PHOTO EXHIBIT: The nonprofit U.S. Pain Foundation is exhibiting photos today and Thursday at the Capitol in support of Assembly Bill 369, by Democratic Assemblyman Jared Huffman of San Rafael, which would bar health insurers from requiring a patient to try more than two pain medications before allowing him or her access to other doctor-prescribed medication. Look for the photos on the first floor near the elevators.

TRAFFICKING: Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, joins Facebook's former chief privacy officer, Chris Kelly, and others to highlight a ballot proposal that would increase criminal penalties for human trafficking and require anyone convicted of trafficking to register as a sex offender. The news conference, which coincides with National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, starts at 10 a.m. at Jewish Family and Children's Services of San Francisco, 2150 Post St.